Addressing-machine.



L. McMiLLl-RN. ADDR- ZSSING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 28. .1915.

Patented Nov. 28, 1916.

6 SHEETS-SHEET I.

mvamoa @m mmmm m mwmm h m mfiwmw ATTORNEY MCIWLLAN.

ADDRESSING MACFINE MPLICAHON FILED AUG-28,1915.

Y 6 0. m. M urn M m E W 2% V A .H. W W flu 0. ms S n w n 7 W P w 1 Ja 1.. MCMEL'LAN.

ADDRESSING MACHINE.

A'PPLICATION men AUG-28. 1915.

1306 345 Patented Nov: 28,1916.

i 6 SHEETS-SHEETS.

Jam 97PM BY /'Z'gjwonuav ADDRE3SING MACHlNE.

APPLICATEON FILED AUG-28,1935.

Patented NW. 28, 1916.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

ww m mvENToR V E a N R w 0 v T. u T A a 7v T WITNESSES L. McMILLAN.

ADDRESSING MACHINE. I APPLICATION FILED AUG-28. 191s.

Patented Nov. 28, 1916.

6 SHEETSSHEET 5- ENTOR- YWITNESSES Y E N R O T A L. McMILLAN. ADDRESSING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-28.1915.

' Patented Nov. 28,1916.

6 SHEETS-S EET s WITNESSES ATTOR N EY LEVI MCMILLAN, or WILMINGTON, nonrn CAROLINA.

AnnnnssinG-Macmna Specification of Letters Patent. I

Patented Nov. 28, 1916.

Application filed August 28, 1915. Serial No. 47,724.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Lnvr MCMILLAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Wil mington, in the county of New Hanover and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Addressing-Machines, of which the following isa specification.

My lnventlon relates to a new and 1mproved machine for addressing articles in;

quantities, and specifically speaking, it may be stated that the present. invention has reference to an improved construction over that type of machine described and claimed in United States Patent #1,150,784, issued to me on August 17, 1915.

One object of the present invention resides in providing a machine for addressing articles, such as periodicals, newspapers, post cards, circulars and the like, in which a continuously operated conveying means has a fixed path of movement and engages and carries the articles through the machine in successive order while't'he articles themselves are supported on a. member adjustable with respect to the conveying means to adapt the machine for articles of varying thicknesses.

Another object resides in providing mechanism for ailixing a label to the article dur ing passage through the machine, and subsequently printing on said labels, said mechanisms. being capable of continuous opera tion simultaneous with the means for con veying the articles to be addressed through the machine, and thus the aflixing of the labels and the printing on it, together with the passage'of the articles through the machine is a continuous automatic performance.

and does not depend on intermittently actu ated mechanism.

A further object is to provide means for accommodating a plurality of articles to he addressed and selecting one article at a time to be delivered in a specified relation to a conveying means which carries the articles singly through the machine in successive order, and. in a proper path to be acted upon first by the label-aliixing mechanism and then by the address printing means.

A still further object consists in providing means for regulating the operation of the various mechanisms constituting the complete machine, so that the aifixing of the label and the subsequent prlnting of 1t may takeplace at a desired position upon the articles conveyed through the machine.

In the drawings: Figural is a side elevation of a machine constructed according to my invention, and with a portion of the 4 I casing inclosing the address printing means broken awayto show the details to abetter advantage. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the machine shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a. sectionalelevation on the plane of the line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Fig. l is a sectional elevation on 't-heline 4-4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on the line 5-'-5 of Fig. l. Fig. 6 is a vertical section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3. Fig. 7 is a vertical section on the line 7-7 of Fig. 4-. Fig. 8 is a vertical section on the lineS-S of Fig. 1, with the mechanism in position to accommodate an article of considerable thickness. Fig. 9 is a similar section on the line 8-8 of Fig. 1, but with the mechanism in a position to accommodate an extremely thin article such, for instance, as a sheet of paper or post card. Fig. 10 is a. detail sectional view showing the arrangement of the stops to prevent back movement of the printing plates. Fig. 11 is a perspective view of a stencilprinting plate -used in connection with the addressing means. Fig. 12 is a sectional view trans .versely through the structure shown in Fig. 11. Fig. 13 is a horizontal sectional view through a portion of the stencil printing plate, and showing details of the catch 'mechanisrn. Fig. 14 is a detail sectional view of the catch mechanism or latch em plo'yed in connection with the'stencil plate receptacles. Fig. 15 is a perspective new of one of the members "employed to raise the" stencil plates from' the stencil-plate conveying means. 'Fig. 16 is a fragmentary detail view showing the arrangement of parts of the motion transmitting mechanism at tl e feed end of the machine. Fig. 17 is a view similar to Fig. 16 showing the power transmitting means at the printing and discharge end. of the machine.

Iii detail: The addressing niachinqas sh0wii,'comprises a main bed 1 carrying two upright frame members 2 dispose in par allel relation. At each end of'the machine 5 and j eurnaled in the upright frame members 2 are the transverse shafts 3 and 1', the former being the power shaft. Between the frame members 2 and above the main bed 1,

is a supplemental bed plate 5, which. carries the upright trackmembers 6, the latter be ing substantially equal in length to the dis tance between the shafts 3 and 4; Thetrack members 6 are recessed, as shown at 7, to receive the endless conveyer chains 8 provided with spaced engaging and carrying lingers 9. The shafts 3 and 4 each carry two sprocket wheels 10 over which the cpnveyer claims 8 are trained, and thus if power be supplied to the shaft 3 the conveyer will be set in operation, and forthis purpose the shaft 3 carries a pulley wheel 11 connected with any suitable prime mover by means of a belt 12.

The track members 6 are apertured as shown at 13 to admit vertically movable cross-members 14 which carry the side mem' bers 15 of the mechanism for supporting the articles during passage through the machine. The members 14 also carry the table sections 16 forming a part of the article sup porting mechanism and located centrally between the conveyer chains 8. In the spaces between the table sections 16 are roller members 17, 18 and 19, which are carried by the shafts 20, 21 and 22, respectively. The said shafts extend through vertically elongated apertures 23 in the track members 6 and are journaled in the depending members 24 carried by the article supporting mechanism, and thus rendering the said roller members 17, 18 and 19 vertically adjustable in conjunction with the remainder of the supporting mechanism. i

To provide for convenient adjustment of the suppbrting mechanism, each of the table sections 16 carries a threaded nut member 25 which is. engaged by a jack screw spindle 26 provided at its lower end with a worm gear27. A shaft 28 journaled in bearings 29 carries a plurality of worms 30 for engagement with the worm gears 27 and further, the shaft 28 carries a bevel gear 31 meshing with a bevel gear 32 carried by a spindle 33 for rotation by a hand wheel 34 to actuate the jack screw means tovraise or lower the supporting mechanism relative to the conveying chains 8, and it is herein deemed advisable to call attention to the fact that this differentiates from previous constructions in that the entire article supporting mechanism is adjustable independently of and relative to the means for conveying the articles to the i machine.

In order to deliver the articles to be ad dressed to the conveying means, the table section 16 immediately adjacent the shaft 4 at the head end of the machine, is slotted as shown at and carries the upright gage member 36, said gage member being ad ustable in slot by means of the thumb screw clamp 37. The side members 15 of the article supporting mechanism carry similarly adjustable gage members 38, and directly opposite to said gage member 36, and fixed ed in the same manner as theshalts 20, 21 y and 22 is a segment of a roller 4 t-which is preferably made of rubber or other material which willexert frictional carryi1 1g action against members with which it may come in contact. .This member 44 is driven at on same speed as the shaft 4, through the me- "dium of a chain 45 trained over sprocket wheels 46 and'47 carried by shafts 43 and 4 respectively, the sprocket 46 being adjustable relative to its carrying shaft by means of set screw adjusting means 47". The member 44 frictionally engages the lowermost article of the pile 42 and draws it forward un- I til it drops flat uponthe table sections 16,

whence the rear edge of said article is then engaged by the carrying fingers 9 of the endless chains 8 which carry it through the machine. The purpose of providing for the adjustment of the sprocket 46 relative to its carrying shaft 43, is so that the point of delivery. of the article relative to the carrying chainsmay be regulated.

The shaft 20 of the roller 17 is extended and carries a, gear 48 which, when the article supporting mechanism is adjusted to its highest point to accommodate very thin articles such as sheets of paper or the like, meshes with a gear 49 carried by a shaft 50 carrying a .roller 51, and when the said gears are in mesh the rollers 17 and 51 coiiperatc to assist in feeding the article through the machine even after engagement by the carrying fingers 9, and particularly for the purpose of allowing the said carrying fingers to gradually and easily pick up the articles, and thus a continuous uninterrupted progress of the articles. through the machine is insured Behind the said articlefecding mechanism is the label mechanism Wllicll is supported mainly by the upright brackets- 52 carried on lnei'nbers' 2 of the frame of the machine. At the top of the brackets is journaled a spindle 53, carrying a roll 54 containing a continuous strip'of paper 55 of uniform width, and from which the labels are formed. For guiding this strip of paper a way 56 is provided which has grooved sides 57 to engage the edges of the paper strip. Near the top of ,the brackets, and immediately below the spindle 53 is a pair of feed rollers 58 carrying intcrmeshing gears 5.) driven from a worm 60 which engages a worm wheel 61. The

all parts involved in the functioning of the machine and without employing any stop mechanism whatsoever.

At each end the shaft 107" carries a crank ll) whi'eb engages the slotted ends of levers H5, said levers being fulerumed at 113, and thus upon the rotation of said shaft 107 the. members 94 are raised at the proper in tervals to take. the used stencil plates from the conveying means and transfer them to a position within the. receiving l't il'p m B wherein they are stacked inan inverse order with respect to their original s acking.

Now, in order to simultaneously operate all the separate mechanisms of the machine, a jack shaft 114 is provided which isdriven from the p Mtl shaft by means of the gears [16 and li7. the latter gear being carried by the power shaft 3 and provided with set screw adjusting means 115. The jack shaft carries a sprocket 117 over which a chain 118 runs and engages a s rocket 119 mounted on shaft 84 of the stencilplate carrying means and through which the latter is driven. Furthermore, this jack shaft carries a sprocket 110 which aceommmlates the chain 110 for driving the platen and which chain runs over the. sprocket 111 for driving the pliiten. Also a long drive chain 120 runs from sprocket 120, on the jack shaft, to sprocket 80 on shaft 76", which drives the label mechanism. Thus it will be seeirtlnit by driving the shaft 3 continuous and simultaneous movement is imparted to all parts of the machine. The purpose of the set screw means'115 is to advance or retard the position of the fingers 9 of the article conveying means, so as to regulate the said conveying means for carrying the articles into operative position relative to the label mechanism and address printing means, and to accommodate articles of diffcrcnt lengths. I find it preferable to complctcl inclosc the address printing means by a cover 121 which, when desired may be removed to afford access to the address printing means.

Reverting to the article supporting 1 echanism, attention is called to the fact that the side members 15 carry gages 122 which are adjustable toward each other and, are co-extensivc in length with the said members 15, clamped to the l1llit3fif"li'lellib0l5 at the free end by means of clamps 123. These members prevent lateral displacement of the articles in their movement through the machine, and also these members may be removed and replaced by other members similar in construction and of different height so as to accommodate any'article from a sheet of paper to a thick mnga'liine.-

In the operation of the un c'hine: the articles to be. addressed a re. placed in the age members at the head of the machine which. ha ve accordingly been adjusted andthe machine is started by drivinf the power shaft ll. lunnediately the mem *r 44 engages an article and moves it forward whence it is picked up bythe carrying tingeisl), the supporting mechanism having first been adjusted to vary the effective height of the carryin; lingers to accord with the thickness of the article. While thearticle is being moved forward a label is being developed in the labeling mechanism and is applied to the arlicle when it comes under the pressure roller; after the label has been apphcd, the article, the. movement of which has been continuous, progresses forwardto the addressing means and at this time a stencil plate is carried forward at, the same rate of speed as the arti oh: and the platen is inked and then rolls into engagement with the stencil sli of the stencil plate which is positioned by t is time over the label carried by the. article and r0- duccs an impression on said label. hot stencil plate then moves onwardly' without interruption until it is engaged by-the mem-' bers 9i whence; it is lifted from the stencil plate conveying means and stacked in the lower part of ,the receiving receptacle B. The article having" the label *a plied and stcnciled is then delivcled from t we machine and the successive opjeritions upon the singly delivered articles con infic;

From the fpregoii" it will be seenthat I have prov I ,a ir'" addressing machine which is contiiitloli in operntionand will allix a label and address said label on an article during continued movement of the article throughfthe machine,- and the machine wilt furthermorei' similarly operate upon a plurality of articles delivered singly and in successive order through the machine; also, the mechanism of the machine may so adjusted as to accommodate thin, thick, narrow or wide and long'orshort-articlee and will take any articles -from aflcxible. sheet of paper to a stiff unbendnbl card of any dimcnsionr f While I have herein shown and described a specific form of my invent-ion, it will be understood, that, in practice, changcsmny.

be made in the form and arrangement inthe several mechanisms \vithoutalcpartmg from the spirit and'sc'ope of the invention as de-- will not stick partially severs a length of article to which aper is fed between these rollers whence it is engaged by a roller 62 rolling into contact with a roller 63 provided with a knife (it which, uponeach revolution, perforates and paper from the strip' equal to the circum erence of the roller, and forming a label, The rollers 62 and 63 are driven by gears 65 through the medium of a worm 66 and worm wheel 67. Beneath the, severing rollers are the gumming rollers 68 which are formed :similar to those n the machine shown in Patent #1,150,78 l, issued to me on August 17,

1915, and'hereinbefore referred to. Said gumming rollers are driven throughthe medium of a wormgear from the absorbent wick arrangement 70 drawing its supply ;from the reservoir-70, and applying thesaid adhesive only to the central portion of the label, so that the label to the members which subse uently deliver and apply it to thearticle. A ter the adhesive is applied to the label the ungumrncd edges thereof are engaged by'the rollers 71 driven by worm 72 and the label is delivered to the surface of the it is to'be applied. .The

label mechanism is driven through the me dium of the bevel gear sets 7 3, and 74 whichmg-thesa'id In sprocket "sprockets rollerruns at 'a greater drive'the shaft 75 carrying worms 60', 66, (i9 and so forth,tat a slower'speed than the travel of the article throughithe machine, but sufiiciently fast to form a label for each article Upon the delivery of the label from' meansjfor' 'stenciling the addresses on the labels: and thiscomprises the shafts 81, 82,

' 83and- 8st arrangedin rectangular order and I each carrying two sprockets 85 over which are trained the stehmhplate conveyor chains '86. The said chains 86 are provided with stencil'plate carrying fingers 87? There is alsoprovided a stencibplate delivery receptacle A and a stencil plate receiving receptacle B, each of which is similar in construction and embraces a fixed lower half 88 and interchangeable upper halves 89. In two opposite sides of each of the receptacles A and B. are slots .89 which accommodate 'thejvertioally movable members 90 having inwardl turned lower ends 91 for engage ment with the stencil plates so that the lat- 09 and receive adhesive be herein a shaft .108 at each side of the machine, and said ter may he moved to the upper halves of the receptacles for interchangeability when desired, and the said plates are retained in the'upper halves of said rceptacles'by latch members 91 spring pressed inwardly and adjustable by means of nuts 92. The bottom'of-the' receiving receptacle B, as well as the bottom portion of the delivery receptacle A is provided with similar latches 93. Carried at the sides of the bottom portion of thesaid receiving receptacle B are the vertically reeiprocable members 9e actu- -ated by movement or the levers 9:5, and

which engage each stencil plate as it is de-' livered ficiently to he engaged and retained by the latches 93. Q

' Each stencil plate comprises a rectangw larfrume a, 'as shown inFig. 11, which is notched at two points on one edge for en gagement by the carrying fingers 87 of chains 86. Said notches are; provided with spring-pressed catches 96 which enter receases in the-sides of the notches, and spring out therefrom to engage the said fingers 87 in a releasable but firm manner; The

frame of'each stencil, plate carries the removable stencil strip I having the address thereon, and during movement of the stencil plate from one rece tacle to the other, the edges of the-plate rame are guided in grooves 98 which'd'irect the plate downwardly into a printing position, and thence upwardly to be engaged by members 94. By reason'of the fact that gr'ooveslJS gradually incline upwardly until they reach the point beneath the receiving receptacle when they are entirely above the level of the carrying fingers 87, it will be seen that said grooves function to,lif t the stencil plates off from the carrying fingers 87 whence they are engaged by latches 91 of the menu bers 94'. To insure the proper engagement of the carrying fingers 87 with plate frame, the plate isinitially retard-din its movement by springs 99 which located in grooves 08 which are depressibl'e to permit theplatc to pass. Also similar, springs 100 are provided adjacent the receiving re cept'acle and also in the said rooves and preventbackward movement 0 the stencil plates. Intermediate the receptacles A and -B is an ink reservoir 101 having a tapered -moutl1 closed by' an absorbent pad 102. Carriedby the brackets 103 mounted onto I saidv reservoir, areadjustable screws 105i from the stencil 'pla-te conveyingmeans and raise the used stencil plates suf-- which support brackets 105 carryi grSpllk" die 106 which in turn carries the inking roller 107 in roll-mg contact ,-with th ub-.,

latter. I

The platen means for printing consists of 107, journaled in bearing stands sol-bent pad 102 and receiving ink from t cl ticles to be addressed through the machine in successive order, label aiiixing mechanism comprising, a web supply, means for severing-a label from 'said web supply, ineans for so plying adhesive to said label, a pressure m lei to aiiix said label to the article, means for feeding the label with the adhesive applied thereto to the pressure roller, stencil strips to be applied to the article over the label, means to print a name to said stencil strip, and means to remove the stencil strips subsequent to-the printing operation.

2. An addressing machine, including means for continuously conveying single articles to be addressed through the machine in successive order, label ailixing mechanism comprising, a web supply, means for severing a label from said Web supply, means for applying adhesive to a portion of said label, a pressure roller to aflix the label to the article, means engaging that portion of each label free from adhesive to guide and feed said labels to said pressure roller, a plurality of stencil strips, means to be brought into operation subsequent to the ailixing of the label to place a stencil strip thereover, means to imprint an address through the stencil strip, and means to take up the stencil strip following the printing.

3. An addressing machine including means for continuously conveying articles to be ad dressed through the machine in successive order, label aflixing mechanism comprising, a ,Web supply, means for severing a .label from said Web supply, means for supplying adhesive to the label, a pressure roller to aiiix the label to the article and spread the adhesive, means for feeding the label with the adhesive applied thereto to said pressure roller, means for placing a stencil strip upon the article to be carried therewith, a printing roller to imprint an address through the stencil, and means to take up the stencil following the printing operation.

4;. An addressing machine including means to engage and single articles through the machine in successive order, labcfixing mechanism comprising, aaveb supply, means vfor partially severing a label from said Web supply, means for supplying adhesive to said label, a pressure roller to allix the label to the article, means for feeding the label with the adhesive applied thereto to said pressure roller, and means for driving said article carrying means at a greater rate of speed than said label feed ing means .to comp ete the severance of the label.

5. An addressing machine including means to engage and carry single articles through the machine in successive order, address printing means operating upon the articles during passage through the machine, means supporting the articles during passage and printing, and mechanism for adnesses.

justing said supporting means relatively to the article carrying means to accommodate articles of different thicknesses.

.6. Ali-addressing machine includingconveyer means to engage and carry single a1- ticles through the-machine in successive order, means for imparting an initial movement to each article prior to engagement by said conveying means, address printing means-operating upon the articles during passage through the machine, means for supporting the articles during passage and printing, and mechanism for adjusting said means for imparting the initial movement and said supporting means relative to said carrying means and the printing means to accommodate articles of different thick- 7. An addressing machine including means to receive a plurality of articles to be addressed, means to engage and carry said articles through the'machine in successive order, address printing means operating upon the articles during passage throughthe machine, means supporting the article during passage and printing, and mechanism for adjusting said supporting means relative to said carrying means and the printing means to accommodate articles of different thicknesses.

8. An addressing machine including means for receiving a plurality of'articles to be addressed, means to engage and carry single articles through the machine in'successive order, means for engaging and'delivering one article at a time to said con-- veying means, address printing means operating upon articles during passage and printing, and mechanism for adjusting said supporting and article'delivery means relative to said carrying means-and the printing means to accommodate articles of different thicknesses.

9. An addressing machine including means forreceiving a-plurality of articles to be addressed, means to engage and carry single articles through the machine in suecessive order, means for engaging and de-.' livering one article at a time to said conveying mechanism, means supporting the articles during passage through the machine,- and mechanism for adjusting said supporting means and article delivery means relative to said. carrying means and article receiving 'means.

10. An addressing machine including conveyor means to engage and carry single articles through the machine in successive order, address printing means operating upon the articles during passage through the mile chine, means for supporting the articles during passage and printing and including rollers to reduce the friction of passage, "and mechanism for adjusting said supporting means relative to said conveyor and printing 11. An addressing machine including conveyer means to engage and carry single arder, address printing mea'ns operating upon ti'cles through the machine in successive order, means for imparting an initial movement to each article prior to engagement by said conveyer means, address printing means ope 'ating upon each article at a predetermined position dnring passage through the machine, means for supporting the articles during passage and printing, and mechanism for adjustingsaid means for unparting the initial movement and said sup porting means relative to said conveyer and n'inting' means to accmnmodate articles of different thiclmesses.

12. An addressingmachine including conveyer means to engage and carry single articles through the machine in successive 0reaeh article at a previously selected position during passage through the machine, means sum'iorting the articles during passage and printing, and mechanism for adjusting said supporting means relative to said conveying and in-inting means to accommodate articles of dill'erent thicknesses.

13. An. addressing machine including continuously operating eonveyer means to engage and carry single articles through the machine in successive order, continuously operated address printing means operating upon each article during passage through the machine, mains supporting the article during passage and printin and mechanism fo' adjusting said supporting means relative to said conveying and printing means to" accommodate articles of different thicknesses.

14. An addressing machine including address printing IDOOlIElIllSlTl. and conveying means for successively delivering articles thereto, said address printing mechanism comprising delivery and receiving receptacles, a plurality oi. stencil plates in said delivery receptacle, conveyor means engaging and carrying single plates from said delivery reccptacle to a. printing position relative to the articles, and means receiving said plates from said plate coi'ivcying means and delivering the same to the receiving receptacle.

15. An addressing machine including address printing mechanism and conveying means for successively delivering articles thereto, said addi'css printing mechanism comprising a receptacle for holding stencil plates, conveyor for moving said plates from said receptacle into a printing position relativeto the article, means rolling intocontact with said stencil plate to pro-" duce animpression, and means receiving the used plates from said conveying means and stacking the same in an inverse order wlth respect to the order in said delivery receptacle.

16. An addressing machine including ad dress printing mechanism, conveying means for successively delivering articles thereto, said address printing mechanism comprising delivery and receiving receptacles each having interchangeable removable upper halves, a plurality of stencil plates in said delivery receptacle, conveyer means engaging and carrying single plates from said delivery receptacle to a printing position relative to the articles and thence to the upper half of said receiving receptacle to be subsequently reinserted in said' delivery receptacle, and'means to print the address when a plate 'is in printing position.

17. An addressing machine including means for successively conveying single ar ticles through the machine in successive order, mechanism for atlixing a label to each article during passage through the machine, means for steneiling an address on each label after the latter has been applied to the ar tiele,i'neans for sin'nlltaneously and continuously operating said conveying means, label aflixing mechanism and address stenciling means, andmeans for advancing or retarding the periodic operation of said afiixing mechanism and address stenciling mechanism With respect to the conveying means to regulate the point at Wl'liClltllG label and address are applied to the article. 18. An addressing machine means for successively conveying ticles through the machine in regulated order, means for ailixing a label to each article, means for printing a difierent address on each label, means for continuously and siumltaneously operating said conveying means, label aflixing mechanism and address printing means, and'means for supporting the articles during passage through the machine.

19. The combination with address printing mechanism, of means for successively delivering articles to said printing mechaincluding nism, said means including fixed tracks,

endless conveyors running ,thereon, means carried by said conveyers for engaging and carrying the articles, and means for supporting the articles during passage through being said tracks below said supporting means and ,provided with carrying fingers projecting jthereabove to engage the articles, and mechamsm to adplst sa d supporting means relasingle aring mechanism,

ering single articles to tive to said fingers to yary the efl'ective height of the latter- 21, The combination With address printof means for successively delivering single articles to said printing mechanism, said means including fixed tracks, endless conveyers running thereon, means carried by said conveyers i'or engaging and carrying the articles, means for supporting the articles during passage through the machine,

means-relative to said tracks; I v

22. The combination with addressing mechanism, of means for successively deli-w said ad r mechanism, said means including endless conveyers, means carried by said conveyers for engaging means for supporting the articles during 'means adjustable to receive a and screw and nut mechanism for adjusting the supporting essing and carrying the articles,-

passage through. the machine, nuts carried by said supporting means, jack screws engaging said nuts, and means for rotating jack screws to adjust said supporting means relative to said conveyers.

23. An addressing machine including plurality of articles of any size, means to engage and carry single articles through the machine in successive order, means supporting the article during passage through the machine, andgi nechanism for adjusting said support- "ing" means relative to said carrying meansto accommodate articles of different thick nesses.-

I LEVI MQMILLAN,

Witnesses: V

O. Ei-nnn'rr Lanoasrnn, BENJ. R. NnWooMB. 

